When It Rains, It Pours Josh Hamilton Contract Talk

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No matter where you turn for your Rangers news, Wednesday night's rainout was met with the same reaction.

Since we don't have a game to talk about, we might as well talk about Josh Hamilton a little bit more. The focus this time wasn't on the majestic performance he turned in on Tuesday night against the Orioles, however. It was on his impending free agency.

Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram reported that there's nothing new going on with the negotiations in light of Hamilton's four-homer night. It's a bit scary to think that there are actually people who think that one great game, even a game as great as the one Hamilton had on Tuesday, should have anything to do with contract talks. That brings us to Wilson's colleague Randy Galloway and Ben Rogers at ESPNDallas.com.

Rogers belives that Tuesday night will send Hamilton's asking price even higher because it adds to his legend. Galloway has changed course from his offseason doubts about Hamilton and comes with a full-throated support of signing him for $160 million over six years that he believes is worth any risk inherent in a relationship with Hamilton.

That might not be enough, according to Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News. He believes it will take $180-200 million over seven or eight years to sign Hamilton, a number he thinks went up on Tuesday night and that he also thinks will be too rich for the Rangers' blood.

As you probably guessed above, we're not believers in the notion that hitting four homers in a game should have any impact on contract negotiations. The issues about his long-term outlook and the best allocation of resources don't change over the course of five at-bats. And those issues don't take anything away from the fact that Hamilton has had a career that's more like Roy Hobbs than just about anything else in real life.

The Rangers (and everyone else) need to weigh all of these things against each other as they figure out how to best approach the Hamilton contract talks. Letting things like one good game or one bad week or anything else on the micro level get in the way is the surest sign that your front office isn't operating the way that it should be operating.

That hasn't been the way the Rangers do business. They weren't emotional about C.J. Wilson nor were they afraid to step on Michael Young's toes when they signed Adrian Beltre. They'll do what they feel is right and single games aren't going to play a role in that.